Traveling with a Residential Fridge?

[schlep1967]

So we currently have an RV fridge that runs on propane when we are traveling. A lot of the new RV's offer the residential style fridge or the RV style.

My questions:
How do you keep the residential fridge cold when traveling?
If you are going to travel a good bit, as opposed to sitting in a park for 6 months, is the RV version better?

[Weldon]

Love my residential refrigerator!

[Gdetrailer]

austinjenna wrote:

A residential fridge is a huge cost savings for the manufacturer.

Think about it. No LP lines to run to it. No 12V power needed. So no 12V lines to run to it.

They now need to add an inverter which probably costs more than just some black pipe and wire.

Inverters are dirt cheap now days, $200 gets you a pretty healthy 2,000W inverter.

My residential conversion was $300 for 10 Cu ft fridge, $200 for inverter and one pair of 6V GC batts (series configuration for 12V) for $180 and less than $50 for 1/0 wire for a whopping $730. Although I don't really count the batteries since I was already needing a battery and I stepped up to the GC batts so in reality my upgrade was $550.

Compare that to $1800-$2500 for a new RV fridge in 10 cu ft size..

RV manufacturers are stepping up to residential fridges because it does cost less, there is less openings to the outside to leak and they save on running propane gas lines to the fridge (a bonus for those who have fridges in slides).

Solar panels are considerably much less expensive now days making a residential fridge a real easy decision.

My one pair of GC batts can easily go 24 hrs before needing to recharge and they supply all of my RV power for that time.

Best of all, I use virtually no propane which is a HUGE cost savings, over the last 11 yrs of use, I have only had to refill ONE 30 lb propane tank..

[pianotuna]

Austinjenna,

It is not the materials--it is the labor.

[austinjenna]

A residential fridge is a huge cost savings for the manufacturer.

Think about it. No LP lines to run to it. No 12V power needed. So no 12V lines to run to it.

They now need to add an inverter which probably costs more than just some black pipe and wire.

[Campinghoss]

Our res frig runs 7 days at week all year. When we are travelling the truck keeps the inverter battery charged. Never have had a problem. We were at a cg recently that lost power due to a storm. The inverter kept the frig running perfectly for a few hours. I elected not to have a generator since we never dry camp. If something ever happened and the cg power was off for an extended time, I would just hook up the power cord to the truck and charge the battery that way.

[Planning]

CA Traveler wrote:
The tow vehicle alternator and wiring and towed RV wiring first supply power to the RV house which includes an inverter for a res refer. Any excess power will charge the RV batteries.

The 12v power from my (dual, 220A + 157A) tow vehicle alternators is not routed in priority to my RV inverter. It goes directly to the RV vehicle running/brake lights, brakes and battery bank as the priority.

Also, with 377A alternator capability, even with wipers, heat/AC, and headlights, etc operating on the tow vehicle, we still have plenty of "excess power" to keep the RV bank charged for inverter use.

As I mentioned, in real-time use, our batteries never demonstrate any significant draw-down over an 8 - 10 hour driving period with at least 12.4 volts at the end of the day.

[schlep1967]

Thanks for all the replys. What I'm getting from the responses is that I need to be thorough when looking at my next 5th wheel as to battery sizes and numbers. And also inverter capabilities if we go with the residential fridge. The one I like right now has both options in 18 cu ft. So no difference in size. And neither one would be mounted in a slide out.

We are not off the grid types but may end up doing a night in a parking lot every now and then.

[CA_Traveler]

The tow vehicle alternator and wiring and towed RV wiring first supply power to the RV house which includes an inverter for a res refer. Any excess power will charge the RV batteries.

But the alternator is designed to charge the tow vehicle batteries and has no concept of a remote RV battery and it's charging requirements which is just a load to the alternator. Typically the tow battery quickly drops from bulk to float (13.4V), then add the wiring losses to the RV with loads and there may be limited RV battery charging.

If your RV battery is charged then great but that is not the case for some. A few tenths of voltage drop in the wiring matter in 12V charging. Some have added much larger wires and connectors (battery to battery). Another solution is a DC to DC booster in the RV that takes the lower incoming voltage and boosts it to charge the battery.

[Planning]

We do not do "camping". The 5th wheel is our "hotel" with as many creature comforts as possible. We are disinterested in going into the forests or trails. We prefer paved and immaculate RV resort style traveling. We travel from "pedestal-to-pedestal", with drive times of 8-10 hours.

Upon removing the Nocold we went down in weight; our 18 cu. ft. residential reefer weighs 30 pounds less than the 12 cu. ft. Norcold.

The Reefer is on 24/7 while traveling, set at 0f for the freezer and 34f for the reefer portion. With a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter and 2 moderately sized 12v Group 24 RV/Marine type batteries, at the end of the travel day (always going from-to full hookups) the final battery voltage before connecting to A/C is about 12.5 to 12.7 volts.

[2oldman]

Campinfan wrote:
The alternator in my truck provides plenty of juice for the converter.

In most cases it charges the battery directly, bypassing the converter.

[Campinfan]

I also have an inverter and battery but I do believe that when I am towing, it is drawing its power from the tow vehicle. I say this because the battery is still right at the top of its output when I get to where I am going. Even if it is a 14 hr drive. The alternator in my truck provides plenty of juice for the converter. I love the residential fridge, oh yeah, the display shows 6 degrees in the freezer and 41 in the fridge area

[AJR]

A residential fridge is a huge cost savings for the manufacturer.

Think about it. No LP lines to run to it. No 12V power needed. So no 12V lines to run to it.

Oh but there is more room inside of it.

Sorry, not for me. I do not care how long it can keep things cold with no power.

Thinking of power. Just how long and when do you put a serious drain on the batteries supplied with the camper?

[bikendan]

schlep1967 wrote:
So we currently have an RV fridge that runs on propane when we are traveling. A lot of the new RV's offer the residential style fridge or the RV style.

My questions:
How do you keep the residential fridge cold when traveling?
If you are going to travel a good bit, as opposed to sitting in a park for 6 months, is the RV version better?

If you dry camp or boondock a lot, IMHO stick with a RV fridge.
If you always or mainly have hookups, go for a residential fridge.

We mainly dry camp and would never have a residential fridge, because of that.

[neschultz]

We swapped out our 6 cu ft Dometic for a 10 cu ft Magic Chef Residential from Home Depot. Great improvement in size but I did have to move the bottom opening down a few inches.

It was our intention to leave the TT sitting in a RV Park in FL year round so I was only concerned with the trip down from MD. So I did these tests (we’ve always had wireless temp monitors in the freezer and the refrigerator):

1) Turned the empty refrigerator off. Refrigerator/freezer temps were unacceptable after about 3 hours.

2) Froze water in 3 containers. Put 2 in freezer and 1 in refrigerator. Decent temps for about 6 hours.

3) Filled the refrigerator and freezer with everything we wanted to take in addition to the 3 frozen containers above. Decent temps for 8 hours when I quit testing.

In reality, by the time we unplugged, drove and plugged back in it was 10 hours w/o power and everything was fine. We made a few more stops ranging from 2 to 5 hours unplugged on the way to our destination and all was fine.

While in Fl, we found/bought an older stationary 40’ 5th wheel (with a residential fridge already swapped into it) after 5 months and have now sold the TT. The larger unit makes a real difference.

I hope this helps you

Norman